(PHOENIX, Ariz.) – Central Missouri senior golfer Alex Springer is one of 84 PING All-America golfers from all three NCAA Divisions, NAIA and NJCAA who will compete in the 2016 Patriot All-America Invitational Dec. 29-31 at The Wigwam Resort in Litchfield, Arizona.
Springer, of Olathe, Kansas, is a two-time PING honorable mention All-American for the Mules. He leads the Mules this season with five top-10 finishes in five events played. He has two top-fives and has 10 rounds at par or better. He is currently third in the MIAA season-long points standings after the two fall events.
Featuring top collegiate golfers from around the world, The Patriot All-America Invitational is regarded as a top amateur event nationally, according to a news release.
The players will compete in a 54-hole, stroke-play competition on the The Wigwam’s famed Gold Course. In cooperation with the Folds of Honor Foundation, the golfers playing in The Patriot All-America will continue the tradition to represent a fallen soldier. Every participant will receive a golf bag at the event’s opening ceremony with the name and branch of service of a fallen or injured military member whom they will represent. At the conclusion of the tournament, the golf bags will be shipped to players’ schools and auctioned with all proceeds benefitting the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides post-secondary educational scholarships for children and spouses of military service men and women killed or disabled while in active service, according to the news release.
Past Patriot All-America champions include: Braden Thornberry from the University of Mississippi (2015); Kyle Kochevar from the University of Virginia (2014); Kyle Westmoreland from the Air Force Academy (2013);  Sebastian Cappelen from the University of Arkansas (2012); and Cory Whitsett from the University of Alabama (2011).
The winner of the 2016 Patriot All-America Invitational will receive a sponsor exemption into the Web.com Tour’s 2017 Air Capital Classic in Wichita, Kansas. The Air Capital Classic will be played June 8-18 at Crestview Country Club. Two Patriot All-America alums have won the Air Capital Classic, including defending 2016 Air Capital Classic champion Ollie Schniederjans (2011 and 2012 Patriot participant) and 2014 Air Capital Classic champion Sebastian Cappelen (2011, 2012 and 2013 Patriot participant and 2012 Patriot champion).